Ah IPTV. Four letters to which many Belgians have already succumbed. It must be said that the offer is, on paper, attractive: access to a huge catalog of content (national, international channels and VOD) for an unbeatable sum. However, one detail should be remembered: IPTV is completely illegal. At least in this form.
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Because it is good to remember that the technology itself, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is used to broadcast programs via IP. It is therefore the use made of it, that of broadcasting content accessible through paid subscriptions, which is illegal. Today, it is this use that is implied when we talk about IPTV.
We know that the feeling of impunity regarding illegal IPTV reigns in Belgium. One reseller even admitted that a minister had asked him to obtain an IPTV. Although it is complicated to actually punish users, the authorities nevertheless have a plan to stop its use. And other countries have decided to crack down.
This is particularly the case in Italy where, since February, an anti-IPTV shield has been able to block sites that broadcast illegally in 30 minutes. Individuals can also now be fined up to 5,000 euros. And now, this repression also applies across the Atlantic.
As our colleagues at Geeko report, a historic decision has just been pronounced in the United States. There, the broadcasting of illegal streaming streams was long considered a minor offense until the passage in 2020 of the Protecting Lawful Streaming Act (PLSA). This new law put an end to the impunity of IPTV in Uncle Sam’s country. But until now, it had never been applied.
This is now done since an American forty-year-old has been convicted of broadcasting IPTV, as confirmed by the TorrentFreak site. A very first conviction which could mark a turning point in the fight against IPTV. Although it is still difficult to know whether the PLSA will really be applied or not.
